Brief Moments
by knittingknots
Summary: Post Manga. A collection of mostly InuYasha and Kagome fics that belong to my timeline universe, but have no particular point in time assigned to them.
1. Once Upon a Time in Summer Clothes

1_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Once Upon a Time in Summer Clothes**

The air was hot and heavy, the way it got in July. The fire was banked as small as she dare let it and still have coals to stir up for the morning fire. A single lamp burned to give some light to the room.

InuYasha, having discarded his fire rat clothes for a lighter kosode of grey and red linen moved to where his wife sat, working on some sewing. She frowned as she stitched, her eyes tired, her hair limp from the heat and her blue kosode clinging to her skin where her body had dampened it.

"It's late," he said. He slipped a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look at her eyes. "You ought to go to bed. You're about to fall asleep."

"Too hot," Kagome said, shrugging him off before tucking her needle into her work. She put it aside, closed her eyes and sighed. Picking up her fan, she made a futile attempt to cool off for a moment, then dropped it as if it were too much work.

He stood up and held out his hand to her. Wearily, she accepted it and let him pull her into a standing position. His eyes glinted just a bit and his right ear twitched.

"You've got something in mind, don't you?" she said.

He grabbed his sword and tucked it into his obi. "You're hot. I'm going to make you cooler," he replied.

She cried out in surprise when he scooped her up and ran out of the house with her. Before she could think of what to say, he bounded up into a tall tree, well above the house level. A gentle evening breeze blew, and the moon, only slightly shrouded by clouds, peaked through the tree branches.

Sitting on a thick branch, he snuggled her up against his chest. "Now isn't this cooler than being in the house?" he asked. "I used to do this all the time when it was hot before you came back."

"Yeah," Kagome said, relaxing against him. "Fresh air, moonlight, and even a breeze. Much nicer."

Slowly her breathing evened out, and held in the secure grip of her husband, at last she fell asleep.

InuYasha sat there a long time, thinking about how perfect everything was - Kagome, the night air, the moonlight - or it would have been, if he had remembered to put on his hakama. He had forgotten how rough the tree bark could be to tender skin.

"That's what youkai healing's for, I guess" he murmured, kissing his wife's head, and shifting slightly to get as much of his kosode under his backside as he could. Content enough, he stayed with her in the tree until the moon set and the house was cool enough for sleeping.


	2. Everything All Right?

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Everything All Right**?

The fire banked, the door secured, he lay his sword in its stand, shrugged of his clothing and lay down next to her. It was a warm, sultry night and she had kicked off the sheet. He looked at her skin glistening the remnant of the firelight, and gently let his hand ghost across her thigh.

She murmured in her sleep and snuggled close to him

"So sweet," he whispered, nuzzling her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair, letting his lips taste the salt of her skin.

She rolled half-way towards him, looked up at him with sleepy eyes, and ran her hand around his neck. "Everything all right?"

"More than all right," he replied. His mouth found hers, glided over the warm softness of her lips. She invited him for more, opening her mouth, and as he drank in her taste, his hand slipped between her thighs.

"Going to show me how much better?" she asked. Her grin was wanton as she rolled onto her back.

He kissed her again, and let his mouth drift down her neck to the sweet base of her collarbone, pulling a moan from her lips.

"I thought you were sleepy," he said.

"Not too sleepy for this," she replied, and grabbing twin handfuls of his silver hair, pulled him to her, and proceeded to show her just how awake he was.


	3. Good Sense

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Good Sense**

The lightning crashed, its light flashing through the small house.

Kagome looked up from her sewing and chewed her bottom lip. She didn't like thunderstorms. She liked them even less when her husband was not at home, and it was just she and her baby at home. The boom of the thunder followed close after, rattling the building. She glanced at the sleeping infant. One puppy ear twitched a little at the sound, but Atae slept on.

"Well, at least one of us can relax," she said.

Putting her sewing aside, she walked across the room and slipped out past the hanging mat door and onto the verandah beyond, and looked up at the sky. The rain was pouring down. Off in the distance, lightning flashed again and lit up the clouds.

"Oh, InuYasha," she said. "I hope you had some sense."

The lightning flashed again. Suddenly, she saw very wet silver hair and red clothing standing in front of her.

Kagome cried out in surprise. "Baka! I should have known you didn't have the sense to stay out of the rain."

"You think after traveling all day I was going to let a little thunderstorm slow me down?" He leaned over carefully and kissed her gently on the lips. "I was thinking maybe you might have some dry clothes and dinner for a tired husband."

"Maybe," she replied.

Suddenly there was a loud flash followed by the sizzling boom of a lightning strike near by. Kagome jumped into InuYasha's arms. Realizing what she had done, she pulled back, and saw how wet she had gotten just hugging him.

"Maybe make that dry clothes for two," she said. "Why don't you take off your wet things out here so we don't water all over everything inside? I'll go heat the soup."

Chuckling, he unfastened the ties on his jacket as he watched her walk back into the house. With her jumping into his arms with every crash of thunder, he thought it was very good sense indeed to be home when it stormed.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," he said to himself, and carrying his wet things into the house to hang up in the entryway, went to see what else the evening would bring.


	4. New Moon Incident

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**New Moon Incident**

The room was lit by lamplight. Kagome ran her hand along the skin of InuYasha's thigh. InuYasha didn't say anything, but his eyes followed her finger's movements. She could feel the shape of the muscle as she traced along the warm flesh, hard strength beneath the soft and almost velvety feel of his skin. She pressed a bit harder, letting the muscles speak to her as she moved along the length of his leg towards his knee.

Suddenly he winced and breathed in sharply as she gently probed the area.

"Nothing's broken, even if you're pretty banged up," she said, looking up into his grey-violet eyes, peaking out from under his now black bangs. "You must have pulled the muscle here when you fell. "

"Keh," he said. "Knew it wasn't broken." He placed a hand over hers. "I know what broken bones feel like. It hurt like hell to walk home, but I could walk."

"It won't get any easier to walk until sunrise, either," Kagome said. "What happened?" She turned away to get a cool poultice to put over his leg.

"I was taking a shortcut home, down that rock face to the west of here," he said, giving her a sheepish look.

"The one that's almost straight up and down?" she said, putting herbs onto a cloth, then wetting it with water.

"Yeah." He leaned back against the pillow and covered his eyes with his arm. "I didn't realize how late it was. Sun went down before I finished my last jump. Didn't land very well."

Kagome sighed and tried hard not to frown. "That place scares me to death even when it's not near the new moon." She placed the poultice over the sorest spot. "This will help some," she said. "But you'll need to stay in bed and not try to get up unless you really have to."

She ran her fingers through his hair, tucking a strand behind his seldom seen human-type ears, then started to pull away when he gently took her hand.

"Funny," he said, his face in a pout. "Just wanted to get home so we could spend some time in bed. Didn't expect to do it this way though."

"Good excuse to sleep in tomorrow morning," she said, giving him just the faintest hint of a smile as she moved back to the fire pit to get him his dinner.

"Reasons like that I can live without." Pulling the cover back over his bare legs, he collapsed back onto his pillow.


	5. Half a Wish

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Half a Wish**

The night was crystal clear, and the stars glittered in all their splendor. The moon had not yet risen. The air was cool, almost cold, the way it gets in early spring after the snow has melted from all but the higher mountains, but he ignored it and the breeze tugging at his silver hair and instead, looked up and saw the Milky Way, like a white river running across the heavens.

A shooting star crossed the sky, and he thought of another night, which now seemed so long ago, and he sighed at his foolishness.

Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps walking up behind him, one white, triangular ear tracking the sound. Warm arms wrapped around him, and a soft cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"I was wondering where you were," Kagome said, her voice soft, masking a note of sadness.

He turned around then, and looked at the gray eyes looking back at him. Even in the starlight, he could see they were a little puffy. It hurt, knowing why.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her gently, being careful of her pregnancy-swollen middle.

Kagome reached up, put a finger to his lips. "No, you didn't do anything," she said. "Lately, I . . . I just get so –"

He kissed her gently, softly. She rested her head against his shoulder.

"I saw a shooting star," he said after a moment. His hand trailed down the back of her hair.

"Did you make a wish?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I wished for you to smile again, and for the baby to be born all right." He kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him, a gentle smile breaking across her face. "Well, you've got the first part of your wish," she said, reaching up her hand and cupping his cheek.

"Must mean I get the whole thing," he replied. "Come on, let's get you inside. It's getting cold out here."

She nodded, and taking his arm, they walked back into the house.


	6. Evening Plans

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Evening Plans**

InuYasha walked in, shaking his long, silver hair and brushing white flakes off of his jacket.

Kagome looked up from her sewing, and set it aside. "It's snowing?"

"Like someone's dumped a tub of it over us," he replied. "Hard, and falling fast."

She got up, and moved over to a chest, opened it up, and took out a robe of dark blue. "How odd. I was just out there an hour ago, and there was nothing. I even thought it was starting to maybe clear up."

"Yuki-Onna must have had another idea," he replied, moving toward the fire pit. "I was about halfway home when it started. By the time I rounded the bend I could barely see the house. Easy to get lost in it when it's snowing like this."

Kagome walked up to her husband and brushed his hair back into place with her fingers. Deftly, she unfastened the ties of his jacket. "Well, the Snow Woman won't get you tonight. I have other plans." She helped him slip out of the jacket, and handed him the blue robe to change into. "And those plans need you unfrozen and warm."

As she hung his red fire rat suikan up to dry, suddenly there was a sudden gust of wind that rattled the shutters. InuYasha, smiling wryly as he tied the robe closed, walked up to his wife, and put his arms around her. "I don't know if she liked your plans at all," he said, nuzzling her ear.

"But you will," she said, turning in his arms to plant a small kiss on his chin. "Just don't let the fire go out." She broke through, and moved back to the fire pit to dish up their dinner.

"No chance of that happening," he said softly, and contemplating the evening in front of him, contentedly followed her.

A/N _Yuki-Onna, the Snow Woman, is a youkai who comes up to travelers in winter storms and causes them to freeze to death_.


	7. Tangled

**Tangled**

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

It was a cool Autumn evening, and a warm fire burned in the fire pit. Sitting near the light, Kagome pulled a comb through the silk of her husband's hair. She was amazed by it, how heavy it felt in her hands, but how easily she could pull her boxwood comb through it. Tonight though, it was filled with bits of leaves and full of tangles.

"Ow!" he said, jerking away from her.

"Don't be such a baby, InuYasha," Kagome said. She freed the offending tangle wrapped around a piece of twig. "It's not my fault that you decided to go rolling through the leaf pile with Atae."

InuYasha turned and looked at the sleeping form of his four year old son laying near them. "He had a good time of it, though. Wore him out." He sighed. "I just sort of forgot about tonight."

She pulled the comb through again, and caught another snag.

"Leave me some hair, woman," he said, grabbing the comb out of her hand. He looked at her with irritated, violet eyes. "Anything else there, you can comb it out in the morning."

Trying to suppress a laugh, she reached out and pulled a last bit of leaf off the top of his black locks. "Put your son to bed, and I'll try to make it up to you." She took the comb out of his hands, dragged it through her own shining locks. "That was the idea of wearing him out, right?"

InuYasha smiled, and reached out and touched his wife's own midnight tresses, a perfect match for his own new moon color. "Yeah. But no more torture, all right?"

She nodded, and as he moved the sleeping boy back to his futon behind the screen, she couldn't help but giggle.


	8. Insomnia

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Insomnia**

Kagome had watched him do this too often, whenever he felt unsure or uneasy. He would wake up and go sit by the fire, or sometimes, especially when the moon was shining, step silently out of their house, and stand outside, as if on guard against something unseen in the darkness.

Tonight she had come to, missing his warmth beside her, and pulling on a robe, and not finding him next to the fire pit, walked outside on the verandah, letting the door mat fall almost silently behind her.

He was standing there, looking up at the moon, his silver hair wrapped in shadow and the palest of highlights, dressed only in his sleeping robe.

An ear flicked in her direction as she stepped forward, but he continued looking at the sky. "Hi," she said. "What you doing?"

"Just thinking," he said.

Kagome walked up and wrapped her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. InuYasha pulled her closer.

"You should be sleeping," he said, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"So should you," she replied, looking up at him. The moonlight caught in his eyes, making them glow.

"Keh," he said, then sighed.

"You're not thinking about that peddler that came through today, are you?" Kagome asked. "You're not going to let a jerk like he is get to you, are you?"

"I've always had to fight for a place in the world," he said, not meeting her eyes. "But I hate it when you get dragged down, too. After you brought Atae over to Kaede's, I thought his eyes were going to pop out."

"Kaede and the village elders set him straight," Kagome said. She cupped her husband's cheek in one soft hand. "So did Miroku. I thought he was going to have a stroke when Miroku picked up Atae. He won't be bothering us any more."

She reached up and kissed him on the chin. "I know you think that you don't have a place that accepts you for who you are, where you belong, but you do. The villagers defended your right to be here, to have a family here. You have a home, and a wife and a bed." She laced her fingers through his. "And your bed needs you now. Come back inside."

He gave her a small smile, faint, as if not quite believing her assessment, and nodded. "A home," he said. "Maybe you're right."

She merely smiled at him, and together, they went back to bed.


	9. Mindreading

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Mindreading**

InuYasha, dressed only in his kosode, slid the door to the sleep room closed, then silently walked across the room to where Kagome sat next to the fire pit, examining a small pair of hakama, wondering how she was going to fix the latest rip in the fabric that her son had managed to make.

"Well that's done," he said.

She looked up at him, her blue-gray eyes touched with highlights from the fire that was the only light in the room as he knelt down next to her. "They're asleep?" she asked.

"Yeah. Atae always knocks out fast after one of Sesshoumaru's training sessions. Boy's gonna know how to use his sword better than me at this rate." He smiled wryly. "Maybe I should be glad my brother wasn't my swordmaster when I was growing up. He works the little guy hard. He fell asleep before I even told Yukika her story."

He took the fabric out of Kagome's hand. "We might as well enjoy tonight; tomorrow's Yukika's human night. You know how much she cries still."

Kagome surrendered the cloth and watched as her husband draped it over her sewing basket and pushed both of them out of the way. "She's no worse than Atae was at that age."

"Keh," he said. "Doesn't change anything though." He stretched out on the floor and played with the tie to her wrap skirt.

She looked at him as he looked up at her. His eyes, honey warm in the firelight, caught hers once again with that intensity that had captured her the first time she saw them, but were playful now, and inviting.

"So," she said, laying down next to him. "You have something in mind to enjoy tonight?" She ran a finger along the cream white of his kosode neckline.

"Maybe," he said, cupping the side of her face, his white claws and fingertips gently disappearing into the black length of her hair.

"Wonder if it's the same thing I'm thinking of," she replied, pulling gently at his silver forelocks to bring his face closer.

Suddenly his free hand released the tie of her wrap skirt, and his hand pushed the fabric away. "Could be."

She kissed him lightly. "Mindreader," she said, and kissed him again.


	10. A Matter of Timing

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**A Matter of Timing**

Light from the full moon cascaded through the window, open to let the breeze in.

Her eyes closed as he ran a hand across her thigh, delicately sending a trail of electricity across her skin that made her gasp.

She rolled towards him as his mouth found hers, warm and hungry.

"You make me drunk, woman," he muttered, as he let his mouth trail down her neck, savoring the salt taste of her skin. He slid a leg between hers, cupped the warm heaviness of her breast, felt her arms slide under the cascade of his silver hair to wrap around him. "I want you so much."

Suddenly, a cry broke through the night, loud and piercing, from a basket not far from their bed. With a frustrated groan, InuYasha rolled off of his wife, and she sat up, to pick up the crying baby out of his bed.

"Evidently, you're not the only one who wants me," Kagome said, bringing her son Atae to her breast.

InuYasha took a deep breath, but gave his wife a wry smile. "Keh," he said. "That's cause he's got good taste, just like his dad." He wrapped an arm around her waist. "But he needs to learn better timing."

"Either him or Daddy should," Kagome said, and leaned back against her husband's shoulder, and sighed.


	11. Pillow Talk One Hot Night

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Pillow Talk One Hot Night**

They lay together in the hot night, moonlight cascading through an open window in hopes to catch the breeze.

His silver hair was cascaded over his pillow, fanning out over the edge of the futon. Her black hair was pulled up and tied up to get it off of her neck. Too warm for covers, they lay there face to face but not touching, naked on the bed, the light from the window painting streaks of white light over their skin.

He drew a claw-tipped finger gently around the curve of her breast.

"Jaken got back today," Kagome said. "I saw him when I went to check up on Rin."

"Uh-huh," InuYasha said, letting his hand trail down her side. His finger drew the outline of where the moonlight touched her hip.

"He was acting really strange," she said.

"Yeah?" The light trailed curved around her thigh. He followed the path, and beyond, until his hand reached between her legs.

"He actually asked Atae if he wanted to play while I examined Rin." She shivered as his hand traveled up her leg to rest just below her womanhood.

"Stranger things have happened," he said. He moved closer and ran his mouth along the soft skin of her neck.

"Not many. Where did he go, anyway?"

InuYasha used a knuckle to explore the warmth between her legs, pulling a small moan from his wife. "Took a message to Sesshoumaru's mother."

"Ah, that explains everything," Kagome said. She rolled on top of her husband, straddling him. "Except why you said it was too hot."

"I was wrong?" His eyes glinted where the moonlight touched them.

She rubbed herself against the hardness waiting for her. "Stranger things have happened."

His hands wrapped around her hips. "But not many."

_This story follows shortly after "Family Picnic"_


	12. Once Upon a Noisy Night

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Once Upon a Noisy Night**

Kagome put down her sewing as the door to the sleep room slid open.

"She asleep?" Kagome asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"It's quiet, isn't it?" he said. Yukika, his one year old daughter, rested her head on his left shoulder, soft black curls instead of silver framing her face. He turned around so that Kagome could check for herself.

She nodded. With one hand, she nudged Atae out of the room. "Go play in the other room, sweetie. Sister needs to get some sleep."

Atae flicked a silver-haired ear, nodded, and grabbed his toys, putting them back in his basket, and quietly walked out of the room. InuYasha gently lay his daughter in her cradle-basket and covered her up against the cool night. Kagome grabbed the lamp, and quietly, the two adults walked into the main room of the house, where they joined their son near the fire pit.

"Did I cry that much?" Atae asked. His voice was very soft.

"Oh yes," Kagome said, putting the lamp down by her sewing table. "You didn't like your human nights at all. One time you didn't go to sleep until sunrise." She moved over to the fire pit, and began making a pot of tea. "You want a chimaki?"

The boy nodded, and she pulled out a box, taking several of the sweet treats and putting them on a plate. Atae began building a mock fort out of wooden blocks.

"No loud noises," Kagome warned. No matter how many times you kill the Oni King."

Atae nodded. InuYasha began to tend the fire.

"Keh," InuYasha said, as he added some pine to the low fire. The room began to brighten as the wood caught fire. "You still get pretty grouchy on your human nights."

Kagome, putting the teapot and treats on a tray, moved near the boy. She poured InuYasha a cup of tea, and he returned the favor. "Like father, like son," she said, taking a sip of the pale green liquid.

"Feh," the hanyou said. "That was different. Humans and youkai were both trying to kill me."

"Doesn't explain last month," Kagome said, handing him a chimaki.

"That was different," he said, unwrapping the treat. "Miroku - "

Suddenly a wailing cry came from the back room. With a sigh, Kagome got up. "Maybe like father, like daughter, too," she said, and headed to rescue her unhappy child.

_A/N Chimaki are a treat made of mochi rice and sweet bean paste, wrapped most often in bamboo leaves._


	13. Whiteout

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Whiteout**

The whiteness was overwhelming.

Kagome pulled the straw cape closer around her as the wind tried to pull it away and bowed her head to keep her hat from blowing off. "I walk this path almost every day," she said. "How can I get lost?"

Snow whipped in the wind, hiding all her landmarks.

"Stupid miso. I had to run out today. The snow had to turn into a blizzard while I was in the shed."

She held the pot of miso close to her body, carefully trying to retrace her steps, but it was getting harder and harder. The snow was filling up her footprints as she retraced them, and she couldn't see the house. She took another step and her geta sank into a drift of snow. Backing up, she tried another step, looking for firmer footing.

Suddenly, she was surrounded by red as her husband wrapped his arms around her.

"Going somewhere?" he asked. Snow was already coating his shoulders and adding a fresh layer of white to his silver hair.

"Home, I think," Kagome said.

He lifted up the edge of her conical hat. "Only if you are going home to Sesshoumaru and Rin's place."

"Did I get that turned around?" She frowned.

"Yeah, white times like this can be really tricky. Let's get you home." He bent down, and she got on his back. "Glad I noticed how bad the weather got. Maybe I can do something like run a rope from the house to the sheds. Don't want to lose you to Yuki Onna."

"Maybe she needs a cook," Kagome said, resting her chin on his shoulder. "You think she likes miso soup?"

"Don't know, but she can get hers from someplace else." With an easy grace and a sure sense of where he was going, he moved back towards their house.

Off in the distance, a woman as white as the snow sighed.


	14. Just Enough

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Just Enough**

InuYasha wrapped his arms gently around his wife. It was late afternoon, and they stood on the verandah of their house, a laundry basket full of clean clothes at her feet.

She rested her forehead against his cheek. Her body was tense, like a trap ready to spring, and he could sense the tension in her, a mix of fatigue, anger, and frustration.

"I'm so glad you got back early," she said.

He kissed her forehead, and let his right arm move down her back in soothing sweeps."The old woman's roof went up a lot faster than we thought," he said. "Most of it was all right. Tameo thought we might have to fix more of it, but we didn't. Where's Atae?"

"Sleeping, finally," she said.

"He give you a hard time today?" He lifted her chin up with one gentle finger.

"Chewed through my cooking chopsticks, and started working on one of my pot lids before I noticed," she said. InuYasha could tell he was in for a whole catalogue of their son's sins. For a child only a year old, Atae was showing quite a knack for chewing and toddling where he was not supposed to go.

"He smeared mud on the sheets that I had just washed," she continued, "And somehow he pulled down my thread box. I heard a bang and when I turned around, he had silk thread all wrapped around his head and hands. And in his mouth. And he wouldn't take a nap. It took all afternoon to get him to lay down and sleep."

"Seems like Atae's not the only one who needs a nap," InuYasha said.

"But it's time to cook dinner." Kagome leaned against him. "I haven't even started the rice yet."

"You nap, I'll start dinner," he said.

She pulled back and looked at him.

"What," he said. "You don't think I can cook? Who do you think fed me all those years?"

Not quite sure if she believed him, she let him lead her into the house.

When she awoke, the house smelled delicious. Atae was sitting in InuYasha's lap, chewing on something that was not one of her cooking tools, looking like a puppy-eared angel.

"Ready to eat?" InuYasha asked.

Dinner was only roast rabbit and pickles. Somehow, after a such an overwhelming day, Kagome decided that was just enough.


	15. Watching the Moon Rise

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Watching the Moon Rise**

They stood on the verandah, watching the moon rise over the trees. It was full and very bright.

InuYasha wrapped his arms around her, his hands moving from Kagome's waist upward to cup her breasts. She leaned back against his warmth, feeling the flare of his youki wrap around her like a warm, comfortable blanket.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she said

His mouth found her neck and planted a row of kisses along it. "Yeah," he said, after wringing a gasp from his wife. "Magical."

As he pulled back the neckline to her kosode to give him better access to her neck and shoulder, Kagome suspected they were talking about different things. When his fingers began to fumble at the knot in her obi, she was certain.

Smiling, she turned around to face him. "Let's go inside."

His mouth, hungry and demanding, found hers. "Why?" he asked, his breath warm on her ear. Her obi hit the floor, and he parted the layers of her robe.

She breathed deeply. "Because, you and the moon are making me melt, and I don't want to lay on the wood here. The futon's already laid out."

"Good point. Last time we did that, I got a splinter in my hand." With a quick kiss, he picked her up and carried her into the house.


	16. Monsters

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Monsters**

His eyes glowed like foxfire in the dark, she thought, when the light was just right from the fire or sometimes the moon. Other people might have thought it was frightening, monstrous, another mark of how he was not like them, but to Kagome, it just meant InuYasha.

Tonight, he looked over the fire as she put away the dinner dishes into her pack. His eyes picked up the light and shone. The way his hair gleamed warm with the fire, and his red clothing faded into black ought to have made him look threatening, like a night haunt or an angry ghost. But the smile on his lips and the way he sat destroyed the effect totally, as he lounged back against a tree, cushioning his head with his hands, relaxed and well fed.

"Want to lay out the bedroll?" she asked.

"Why?" he asked. "You got something in mind?"

"Could be," she said, tying the pack closed. "Long as you can keep the monsters away."

"Keh," he snorted, "Nothing to worry about." He stretched out a leg. "No monsters anywhere near here."

She walked over to him, and sat down next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Exactly the way I like it."

_A/N Foxfire refers to a few things - certain tree mushrooms that glow in the dark, and also to Kitsune, who were conceived of as carrying balls of light which would often confuse the unwary as they traveled at night._


	17. Spring Snowstorm

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Spring Snowstorm**

InuYasha struck the flint with the steel, and watched the sparks, cascading in bright streaks in the dimness of the room. Some landed in the tinder; these he blew on gently until they were small glowing coals. Soon, surrounded by a handful of kindling, he had a smoking and crackling nest of flame which he placed in the hearth. Feeding it with sticks to hold the flame, he added larger pieces, and sat back as he watched the fire lap at the wood. Bit by bit, the fire leapt up, lighting the room.

A soft hand touched his shoulder, and a cool and damp body settled next to his, pressing against him.

He looked at Kagome, at how the light played against her cheeks and lips and painted warm highlights in her hair, still damp from where the snow had caught her. "It'll warm up in here soon," he said. "We better get out of these damp clothes."

"Funny how it wasn't snowing in the village when we got back from the market," Kagome said, getting up to go to the clothes chest.

"Stupid weather. That's the way it is in the mountains," he said, standing up and stripping off his jacket. "You can't trust spring any more than fall."

"I hope the salt didn't get wet," Kagome said, dropping her obi and stepping out of her damp robe. She shivered as she put on dry clothes.

"It'll dry. I'll check it in the morning," the hanyou said, unfastening his red fire rat hakama.

"What about Atae?" Kagome asked.

"Snowing too hard to go get him," InuYasha said. "I guess it's just us tonight."

"Hope he doesn't tire out Rin," Kagome said, handing her husband a dry kosode. "I know she'd never say anything, but..."

"My brother would," he said, dressing in the fresh garment. "Hand me the black hakama. It's too cold in here for bare legs."

Kagome giggled, handing him the black silk garment. "Never thought I'd see you dressing in silk just to sit around the house."

"Feh." He finished getting dressed.

As he fastened his clothes, she hung the damp things on pegs. "So," she said, hanging up the last garment, "do you want to heat up the bath water?"

He walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Empty house, and snowed in. I can think of other ways to warm us up."

Kagome turned around and kissed his chin. "Like something hot for dinner?"

He looked at her thoughtfully. "That too," he said. "I can sit here like a lord in my silk and let you serve me."

She laughed and gave him a shove. "Go heat up the bath water," she said, "and I'll start dinner. After all, my lord, we have all evening."

"We do, don't we?" and giving her a quick kiss, he went off to do what she asked.


	18. Boom

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Boom**

It was a warm, sultry night, so hot they had let the fire burn down to ash. The breeze that blew in through the window, though, carried the hint of rain. InuYasha and Kagome, however, were too occupied to notice much. They lay together stretched out on their futon. The covers had been kicked off in the heat. Their nude bodies glimmered with a fine sheen of sweat, highlighted by the flame of a single lamp.

Kagome arched up as her husband touched her. "Please," she said. Her raven hair cascaded over the edge of the bed, and her blue-grey eyes were heavy-lidded with want.

InuYasha let his fingers of one hand skirt over the warmth of her tummy, drawing circles around her navel, to just above the dark patch of hair shrouding her womanhood. He bent over and let his tongue flick the delicate cup, wrenching a small gasp from her.

"Please what?" he asked, tossing his silver hair across one shoulder as he began to trail his mouth up towards her breasts. One hand, though, dipped between her spread thighs, dancing across the soft skin, avoiding the heat at her center.

She tugged on his hand, trying to draw it up to the part of her that ached to be touched, but he escaped her grasp effortlessly, and gave her a small grin. "Oh no," he said. "You're not getting off that easy."

He rolled half on top of her. Neither of them noticed how the wind blowing through the window picked up speed and was growing much cooler, perhaps because he was busy assaulting her earlobe, then trailing a string of kisses down her throat. She moaned under his relentless assault.

Suddenly, there was a loud clap of thunder, startling them both. They froze, both looking toward the window. The first clap was followed by another, then another. The lightning flashed nearby, lighting the room, and then shortly after, was followed by a loud boom.

"Damn," he said, rolling off his wife. "Better get ready." He grabbed at his robe, tossed hers to her, and pulled the sheets up.

"Maybe he'll sleep through it," she said, sighing as she slipped into the garment.

"Feh," InuYasha said, tightening his obi. "Kid hates thunderstorms even more than you, if that's possible."

As if on cue, the door to the room where their son was sleeping slid open. "Daddy! Daddy!" a small boy, maybe five, stood there, trembling. "The sky's going boom! I'm scared."

InuYasha turned to his wife. "Don't think this is over yet, though, woman. We'll finish this later."

"I hope so," she murmured, watching as her husband picked up her son and ruffed his hair.

"It's all right, Atae. Daddy's got you," the hanyou said. "Want to stay here for a while and help keep the booms away from Mama?"

Sniffling and wiping his nose, the boy nodded.

Another boom of thunder shook the house. Both Kagome and Atae jumped. InuYasha, laying his son down on the bed, tried very hard not to laugh. He almost succeeded.


	19. The Bath Attendant

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**The Bath Attendant**

In the mountains between the coast near Edo and the mountains to the north, there was a hot spring nestled in an abandoned garden. It was not known to many any more. The village that had used it was long gone, abandoned in the years of fighting between one warlord and the next, although those who once used its waters had liked it well enough to have planted the gardens and ringed the pool with a border of cut stone. On this particular night, the garden was camp for two tired travelers, returning after a visit to the old miko in a small village not far from Edo. It was not the first time they had stopped there.

InuYasha dropped an armful of wood near their fire. It was already dark, although the moon was nearly full. The flames in the fire ring lapped their red tongues on the wood already burning. The light they gave off revealed a bedroll laid out, their packs, but not his wife. His ear twitched at the sound of water sloshing, and he moved silently down the path of weedy flagstones towards the spring itself.

He watched her step out of the steaming waters. In the moonlight, the beads of water reflected the pale white light across her bosom, her shoulders. The air warm with the smell of minerals could not totally mask her scent. It wrapped around him, calling to him even as he watched. The water splashed a little as she stepped up out of the pool onto the stone walkway.

Bending over, he picked up the towel laying next to her clothes and held it up for her.

"So, you've turned into a bath attendant?" Kagome asked, as he draped the long length of linen around her.

"You were in the spring so long," he said. "I was worried." He wrapped his arms around her, trapping hers. "Have a good bath?"

"Yes, I did. Were you worried, or just impatient?" She leaned back against him.

His hands moved up from her waist to cup the heaviness of her breasts, and he bent down and kissed the side of her neck. "Don't know. Maybe both."

She shivered a little at the feel of his breath, and closed her eyes at his touch, but she did not pull away. "Well make up your mind, because I'm getting cold just standing here in a damp towel."

"Cold?" He bent down and picked up her clothes. "Bet I can do something about that." And with a wicked grin, he picked her up and carried her back to the campfire and their bed.


	20. One Hot and Steamy Moonless Night

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**One Hot and Steamy Moonless Night**

InuYasha looked up into his wife's eyes, stormy blue in the lamp light.

Gone were the amber eyes he stared up at her with. In their place were eyes of dark violet, and the sweaty bangs framing her face were black and sticking to his forehead in the summer heat. As he lay on the bedding, his black hair cascaded over the pillow.

Kagome rested a hand lightly on his chest. "Just stay there," she said. "Don't move."

"Enjoying yourself, are you? I thought you said it was too hot," he replied, smiling at her.

"It is," she replied. Delicate fingers parted his sleep kosode. "It's so hot. Aren't you too hot in that?" she said.

A smirk touched his lips. "Getting hotter, if you ask me," he replied.

She licked her lips. "Maybe. If you're good. How hot would you like it?" Bending over she found his throat, let her tongue trail up from his collar bone to the tip of his chin.

He gasped and closed his eyes. "How hot can you make it?" he asked, daring her even as he melted under her touch. His hand, of its own will, found her back, and slowly dropped towards her bottom.

"As hot as you can take it," she said, giving him a wicked grin. Her mouth planted a line of wet, soft kisses towards his navel as her hand moved further down to dance across the inside of his left thigh.

She touched a spot that made him arch up."Damn woman, if you put me into water, there'd be steam rising."

"We'll just have to see about that," she said, rolling on top of him. "I know just the spot to try it out on."

There were no waves of steam. But afterwards, they both decided a dunk in a cold bath was absolutely necessary.


	21. No Time

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**No Time**

The two travelers were returning from the local market day when the monster jumped out of nowhere blocking the path. It roared at them.

"It seems we have company," Miroku said, dropping his pack.

"I don't have time for this," InuYasha said. He carefully put his bundle to the side. "I don't know what your problem is, Ugly. Get out of the way. You're going to make me late for dinner."

"You're right on time for my dinner, hanyou," the creature said.

The youkai was skeletal, vaguely human-shaped, with long, stringy hair and grey skin. He looked famished, with sunken cheeks and stomach, but had long claws and a big club. The club crashed to the ground with surprising force, missing InuYasha as he jumped easily away.

Drawing his sword, InuYasha glared at the monster. "Last warning, asshole. Get out of the road."

The youkai laughed. "Not until you and your friend are in my belly." He began to charge.

InuYasha growled, then crashed his sword to the ground, watching as five fingers of light raced out to overwhelm the youkai and wrap him in their light. There was a loud boom, and the youkai exploded, raining down bits of flesh all around them. A chunk fell on his bundle. InuYasha walked up to it and flicked it off.

"Well, my friend," Miroku said, coming up to the hanyou. "That was quick. I'm surprised you didn't take time to enjoy a real fight."

InuYasha sheathed his sword and picked his bundle back up. "No time. Kagome's making noodles tonight, and there's no way in hell I'm being late for that."

Miroku just shook his head, said a quick sutra as they passed the remains of the ogre, and followed his friend back home.


	22. First Things First

I_ do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**First Things First**

InuYasha could smell the moisture on the air, invisible spray from the cascade of water ahead. "We're almost there. I told you it wasn't that far away from the house."

The trail led along a small stream, one that Kagome knew came out near the village at the foot of the mountain, one they used to flood the rice paddies, but she had never trailed it up the mountain before.

"So what is it you want to show me?" she asked.

"Something special. I stumbled across it a while back, but the time was never right to bring you here," he said. "But today's so hot, and Atae's at school, it seemed a good day for it. I think you might like it."

They walked further up the path. The noise of falling water grew louder, and the ground, earlier a narrow area shrouded by trees and steep hills spread into a wide arena. At one end was the waterfall, cascading down a rock wall lush with vine maple and ferns. Below, the water collected into a small pool before running down the hillside. The sound of the water was loud, but not deafening, and the air was much cooler.

"Good place for a picnic, eh?" the hanyou said, looking at his wife with a pleased grin. "Easy place to forget about villagers and brothers and doing laundry, right?" He wrapped his arms around her. "Maybe even nice enough for more...interesting...activities."

Kagome smiled up at him and, reaching up, kissed his chin, then broke out of his embrace. "It's lovely." She walked over to the edge of the pool where smooth rocks and sand lined it. "Hard to believe that little stream could make such a loud waterfall. But it's so much cooler. Maybe next time, I'll bring the laundry with me. This looks like a perfect place to wash."

InuYasha pulled her back into his embrace. "No washing, woman, unless you're washing me."

"We'll see. You need to get dirty first," she said. Her eyes were mischievous, but full of promise. "And I want lunch. Want to spread the blanket?"


	23. Midnight Silk

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Midnight Silk**

InuYasha lay in bed next to his sleeping wife, not yet able to fall asleep. It had been a hard day's travel after a youkai extermination that was more complicated than he liked, and in some ways, he felt like he was still on the road.

But being awake at moments like these had their own compensations. He reached out as Kagome lay there, her back towards him, and picked up a lock of her hair. It felt like black silk spilling through his fingers. He loved the smell and the feel of it, especially at moments like this, when it was kissed by the light of the nearly full moon that spilled through the window. He dropped the lock he was holding and traced the outline where the light fell.

He hadn't meant to wake her, but she rolled over, and gave him a sleepy smile. "Something wrong?" she said. Her voice was drowsy, but not upset at being disturbed.

"No." He wrapped a strand of hair around his finger and let it go. "Nothing at all." His hand left her hair and trailed to her shoulder. He leaned forward, let his lips brush against hers lightly, tenderly. "You're here. I'm in my own bed. How could anything be wrong?"

She reached up and cupped his cheek, running her hand through his own white silken hair. "You spent too many days on the road this time. I forgot what it was like to sleep next to you."

"Tell me about it," he said. He rested his hand over hers, and leaning forward, gave her another gentle kiss, then pulled back, smiling.

"I'd rather show you." Reaching her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a kiss that was neither tender nor gentle. "There are more important things than sleep, you know," she said after they came up for air.

He was inclined to agree with her, and proceeded to show her how well he understood.


	24. One Night on the Road Home

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**One Night on the Road Home**

InuYasha sat under a tree, looking up at the moon that peeked through the branches. It was almost full and very bright.

They were camped off the main road. It would be another day before they would make it home back to their families and homes. Miroku tended the small fire they had made, getting ready to bank it for the night. Even as he worked, he could feel the agitation in his friend's aura. Finishing his task, he went to sit next to his friend.

InuYasha said nothing, but his ear flicked in Miroku's direction as the monk sat down.

Looking up at the moon with his friend, he broke the silence:

"In a moonlit night,  
piercing through the whole cosmos  
the voice of one frog."

InuYasha turned towards the monk. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's part of a famous poem," Miroku said. "Once a monk was sitting in the latrine, thinking about the teaching his master had given him, and he heard a frog croak, and suddenly it all made sense. He had his enlightenment."

"In the latrine," the hanyou said. "Miroku, you're full of shit."

"I didn't make it up. Mushin showed it to me when I was a boy." He turned and looked at his companion. "You look like a man who's trying to make sense of things. I don't know what frogs will make it all make clear."

InuYasha's ear twitched. "I was just thinking. We went off to stop a youkai that was snatching children of one village, and go and find another village soldiers had just about wiped out. Hell if I know which is worse, brat-eating youkai or brat-killing soldiers."

"I don't think you can say one is worse or better than the other," Miroku said. "Evil actions are evil."

"That's what Kagome says," the hanyou replied. "Must be true. Both tried to kill me often enough. You think we chased them far enough away?"

"Enough to let the survivors get away, I suspect." Miroku scratched the back of his neck. "You did give them quite a show."

"Keh," Inuyasha said. "They deserved more. Surprised me when you let what was left of the village have half the payment we got from the extermination."

"Rumor to the contrary, I do understand the Buddha's teaching on compassion. Rich landowners profiting on the sweat of the poor are one thing. Hungry and traumatized women and children are something else." He sighed. "It won't get them through to harvest, but if they're like most villages, they have some supplies hidden away for times like this, far from roving bands of bandits or soldiers."

Miroku turned back to the hanyou, who was staring up at the moon again. "This isn't about that poor village, is it? You're thinking of our own village, aren't you?" the monk said. "You shouldn't worry. Inumura is way off the beaten path, and besides, the village is in good hands. Even if the war headed that way, we'll get back before they could. And your brother's there."

"Yeah," the hanyou said. "I just..." He let his voice drop, not completing the thought.

Neither spoke for a while. Miroku glanced back up at the moon one more time, and then he moved back to the fire and his bedroll, and decided, with a grin, to give breaking his friend's dark mood one more shot. "Get some rest, InuYasha," he said. "It's two days until the full moon. We'll be back in plenty of time."

"In time for what, Bouzu?" His ear twitched again.

Miroku rolled back his blanket and stretched out, grinning at his friend. "I suspect we'll be watching Atae that night, unless you send him to your brother's."

InuYasha whirled around and glared at the monk. "You know, Miroku, you're such a letch. Still don't know how Sango puts up with you."

"I rather think that I understand how the world works," he said with a smile, then wrapping his blanket around him, settled down to sleep.


	25. Some Things Can Wait

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Some Things Can Wait**

Kagome lay there, watching how InuYasha's eyes, a dark heavy gold in his want glittered in the lamplight as he hovered over her.

"Woman," he said, before he lowered his head to lightly brush his lips across hers.

She could feel his heat, the warm radiating off his chest as he covered her, and how it ignited her own heat. She let a hand slide from his hip to slip under his silver hair.

Suddenly he rolled over to the side and sighed. "Damn."

Frowning, Kagome leaned up on one elbow. "Something the matter?"

"Don't you have a ritual to do at the shrine tomorrow?" He tried to hide his pout, but couldn't.

"So?" she asked, unconcerned, as she ran her fingers across his abdomen, circling his navel.

He grabbed his hand. "I thought we weren't supposed to do this before you go up to the shrine."

She rolled on top of him. "Only if I'm leading the rite. But I'm not. Tameo's going to be the priest." She leaned over him and kissed him hard. "All I have to do is make sure I take a bath first."

His hands slid up her back, pulling a moan from her mouth. "Uh, I think I need to fill the tub back up. You used it for laundry, remember?"

She ground herself against him. "It'll wait. Some other things won't."

"If you say so," he said, giving in. "You know best."

Later, as he stubbed his toe hauling water from the stream in the dark, he wondered if she really did. But, feeling more content than injured, he decided it was worth it anyway.


	26. Special

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Special**

The house was dark, lit only by the red coals in the fire pit. InuYasha snugged the blanket around his sleeping wife with his right arm, while holding his daughter on his left hip.

That done, he moved a little away from the sleeping woman to sit beside the fire pit , and, cradling her in his lap, "What am I gonna do with you, little flower, keeping your mama up so late? You must have worn her out, cause after she fed you, she fell right back asleep."

The baby crammed a fist in her mouth. He touched a strand of her silver hair, ran a fingertip over the flap of one soft, puppy ear. "Yukika. Daddy's little snow flower. You sure picked a cold time to come join us. But I can tell you're going to be as beautiful as any flower."

She looked up at him with solemn eyes, and gurgled.

"You know I don't know anything about raising girls, but I suspect if that monk can do it, I can too." He smiled. "Hell, I know that if my brother can raise a girl, I sure can."

The baby whimpered. "Not that I'm comparing you to their girls." He lifted her up and snugged her against his shoulder. "No, you're daddy's special flower." He patted her back. "Hope you turn out more like your mother than me, though. Then everybody'll love you as much as I do."

He sighed. "Glad your mama's here to teach you all those things that make her wonderful. The kami know I couldn't do it. She's the one who makes our life here special. So that's why you shouldn't keep her up all night." Yukika yawned, and snuggled closer to his neck.

After a few minutes of rocking the girl back and forth, he moved her off his shoulder and put his sleeping daughter to bed in her cradle basket, then stretched out next to his wife. Wrapping an arm around Kagome, he nuzzled her hair and sighed. "Very special," he murmured, then let himself drift off to sleep.


	27. Midnight Wish

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Midnight Wish**

_A/N: Takes place shortly before Kagome's return. _

The midnight sky hung heavy with uncountable stars. The moon had already set for the night, the night was crystal clear, and there was nothing to distract InuYasha from the view as he stood on the mountainside. The air was cool, but the winter bite from it had given way to the milder cool of early spring. He ignored it. It was not as cold as the ache in his heart, the night was not as dark as the loneliness he tried to hide from everyone who cared for him.

Here, away from everyone, he had no reason to pretend, nothing to hide, and he let the bleakness sweep over him.

Three years. Three years without her voice, her scent, her touch. He really didn't know how much longer he could hold on to the shreds of his hope. Each time the well refused to let him pass, it grew that much harder.

"Kagome," he whispered.

Almost as if in answer, a shooting star streaked across the sky. He remembered once, when Kagome told him if he saw one, he should make a wish. Saying nothing, he closed his eyes, and wished with all his heart for one more glimpse of her blue-gray eyes, one more touch from her soft hand.

While his eyes were closed, for a moment it felt like someone briefly touched his cheek. He swore he could hear a soft voice murmur, "Wait."

Not daring to say anything, lest he break the frail magic feeding his hope, he ran off into the night.


	28. Unexpected Company

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Unexpected Company**

Atae had been playing in the yard, building a fortress out of wood chips and scraps while InuYasha chopped firewood when suddenly a great, one eyed bull dropped out of the sky. On his back was a stinky, old youkai with big, bulbous eyes and gray hair. Startled, he now hid behind his father's legs, clinging to the loose fabric of the firerat hakama. Bit by bit, as he sensed his father's annoyance but no fear, he peeked around to look at the strange person standing in front of them.

"What in the hells are you doing here, Toutousai?" InuYasha asked, resting his hand on his son's head.

"It's been too quiet. Neither you or your brother is causing any mayhem lately, so I came to see if everything was all right. Your brother's not around, is he?" the old smith asked, turning his head around as he searched the grounds around them. But there was nothing there but the garden, the laundry hanging up to dry and the woodpile.

"Heck if I know." InuYasha scooped his son up into arms. "He pops in and out whenever he feels like it."

"Still keeping an eye on that young'un, I bet." Toutousai chuckled. "He's more like his father than he'd ever admit."

"Feh." InuYasha, frowned and rubbed his jaw, as if in memory of past tooth extractions. "I dare you to say that to his face."

"I might be forgetful these days," Toutousai said. "But I'm not suicidal." He leaned forward to get a better look at Atae, lifting a finger and almost touching his nose. Atae's ears flattened, and he began a soft, nervous growl. "Now that's a mighty nice looking young'un of your own you have there. Myouga was right. Looks like you when you were just a sprout."

"Daddy?" Atae said, looking up at his father.

"It's okay, little guy. This is the guy who made my sword." He ruffed his son's hair, scratching a little behind his ears.

"He did?" the boy replied. He looked unconvinced.

"Yeah. But since he doesn't seem to have any reason for being here, he'll be going on his way in a little bit."

The door to the little house opened up, and Kagome stepped out.

"Toutousai! What a surprise!" she said, smiling. "What brings you here? You have to stay for dinner!"

As Kagome ushered the old smith into the house, InuYasha put Atae down, sighing. "Tell your mama I've gone hunting."

"Why, Daddy?" the boy asked.

"I just want to make sure that we get to eat, too." And with that, he dashed off into the forest.


	29. She Explains it

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**She Explains It**

"Kagome," he murmured.

His arms drifted to her waist. She cupped his cheek and ran her tongue over his parted lips, let it dance with his for a moment, then sucked on his lower lip, before running her mouth to his chin and down his throat.

"How do you know how to do that so good?" he groaned, raising his head to watch as she continued her assault, kissing and licking a line down towards his naval.

She looked up for a moment, and gave him a very wanton smile. "Practice," she said.

His head thumped back to the pillow. "Practice makes perfect," he said, right before she took away his ability to say anything else.


	30. One Evening in October

_I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**One Evening in October**

InuYasha's mouth grazed along the warm skin along his wife's shoulder blade. His eyes closed, he followed his mouth and nose across her shoulder and down past her collar bone. Kagome's scent, as always, was warm and rich, even spiced as it was by the smells that clung to her clothes - food and the scents of their children, incense and herbs. Very little she could do would hide the smell that was just her, his comfort, his steady rock against all the darkness the world threw at him.

He kissed the hollow at the base of her neck, and she moaned. He thought briefly of their first time, when he barely knew what to touch, much less how to touch her, and how he trembled at the magic of the moment. Now, after years together, he knew each and every one of her special places, and she knew his, but it was still magic. She threw back her head and let the long dark tresses cascade over his hands holding her close. Slowly he lowered her to the futon and slid between her legs.

His mouth found hers again, a slow sensuous taste of each other, tongues dancing in languid play, knowing there was no rush, and they had all the time they needed.

But when they broke apart, Kagome pulled back a moment. "You sure it's not the full moon?" she asked.

"Not for five more days," he replied. "Why?"

"You're just so intense tonight." She twisted a piece of his hair around her finger. Even in the dim light of the room, it covered her finger like silver thread. "Any special reason?"

He took her finger and brought it to his lips. "Maybe it's because you've been so busy the last few days. We're always so busy this time of year. Or," he said, as he began to plant a line of soft kissed past her ear and down her neck, "maybe it's just because you're so special and want to show you how much."

Her fingers found his left ear as his mouth slid further down her chest to find the softness of her breast. "Good answer," she replied, and moaning once more, lost the ability to say anything more for awhile.


	31. Foxed

_I do not own InuYasha or any character created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Foxed**

Darkness and a gust of wind followed InuYasha inside as he stepped across the threshold with a load of wood in his arms. The flames in the fire pit danced with it until he shut the door, shutting out the night.

"The wind's picking up," he said.

Stopping first to put the wood in its cradle within easy reach of the firepit, he went and stirred the fire up, warming his hands in its glow.

Kagome looked up from her sewing, the lamp she used casting warm highlights on her ebony hair. Smiling, she put her work down. "You were gone longer than I expected," she said, folding a piece of red and blue cloth that was destined to be a sleep robe for her son. She deftly and carefully tucked the needle into the soft fabric.

InuYasha added some wood to the fire pit. "Yeah. Didn't mean to. Walked down to the pond for a moment. Thought I saw a fox running that way. When I got there, I didn't find any fox, but I did see an owl flying from the trees towards the house. Even I can barely hear anything when they fly. It pounced on something and flew off towards the village." Adjusting the wood to his satisfaction, he got up and moved to where Kagome was sitting. "Then I was watching the sky. The air has that smell it gets before a weather change, and the clouds were really racing across the moon. I think a storm's moving in." He looked around the room. "Where's Atae?"

"He fell asleep while you were out," she said, putting the cloth neatly into her sewing basket. "I put him to bed."

"Ah, little guy. I guess my story can wait until tomorrow night." InuYasha left his place by the fire and sat next to his wife. "Must have worn him out this afternoon. He's getting good at catching rabbits."

"Which is why we're eating so much rabbit stew," Kagome said as she put her scissors and thread up as well. "You think it's going to snow?"

"It's that time of the year. If not tonight, it won't be long." He leaned back against the wall. "You want to sleep out here tonight? Wouldn't want to wake up the little guy if he knocked out so early."

Kagome gave him a knowing, slightly smirky smile as she stood up to put her sewing things away. "Is that all you have in mind?" She opened a cabinet and put her basket up. He stood up and and moved behind her.

"Well now that you mention it," he said, wrapping his arms around her, encircling her waist.

She laughed lightly as she turned to face him. "I thought so."

Brushing a stray lock of black hair out of her face, he cupped her face gently in his hands and kissed her lightly.

"Your hands are still cold," she said, although she didn't pull away. "Must be really cold outside."

"Yeah."He pulled her closer. "You know how I can get them warmer?"

"I could make you some tea," she said. "Or maybe we could get under the covers."

"Under the covers sounds like a winner," he replied. He kissed her again, letting the kiss start gently, then accelerate hungrier, as they savored each other's taste. Neither of them noticed the sliding sound at the back of the room.

"Daddy!" said an unexpected young voice. "You're back!"

The young boy, with silver hair and dog ears like his father ran to the two of them. "You gonna tell me a story?"

With a sigh, and a quick peck on his wife's lips in promise for later, InuYasha bent over and swung the boy into his arms. "Sure, little guy. I thought you were asleep."

"I was. The wind woke me up. It gonna snow?"

"Maybe," said the hanyou. He turned to Kagome. "Maybe you had better make that tea."

She smiled wryly and nodded, and moved towards the fire. InuYasha, carrying his son, moved towards the sleep room. "Once upon a time there was this fox."

"What color was it?" Atae asked.

"White. Cause it was a spirit fox." He carried his son into the sleeping room. "They're a lot nicer than wild foxes that interrupt your plans with their tricks."

Outside, just loud enough for the hanyou to hear, a fox barked.


	32. Deferred Celebration

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahasi_

**Deferred Celebration**

It was a hot, sticky night. The children were sleeping in the back room. Kagome, though, was sleeping in the main room, lit by the lamp she kept burning when she was waiting for him to come home.

Too hot for the quilt, she had fallen asleep on top of it, wearing a thin summer kosode. Her black hair, highlighted by the warm light of the lamp, cascaded over the pillow, but her bangs hung damply to her forehead, and the hem of her robe had hiked up most of the way to her hip.

InuYasha dropped the bundle he was carrying on the edge of the wooden platform, and silently walked across the room to put Tessaiga in its stand. He was weary; it had been a long journey back to the village, and each step up the mountain path to his home seemed to take forever. Yet as he watched her sleeping, something in him stirred, wanting.

He unfastened his jacket, and as he pulled it out of his hakama, Kagome stirred, moving from her side onto her back. He wondered idly as he undressed if she was sensing his youki in her sleep, but she made no further movement, and he finished removing his fire rat and hanging it up on a peg in the wall.

When he turned around to look at her again, he almost groaned. One of her legs was exposed almost up to where it met her thigh, and her neckline had gapped, revealing a soft expanse of pale flesh and the gentle swelling of one of her breasts.

"Unfair, woman, when it's been too long," he said very softly.

Moving to the bed, he lay down next to her, a hand gently skimming the exposed skin of her thigh. It felt like warm velvet to his touch, setting his want on fire, and, as he tugged her kosode down he sighed. She snuggled into him, but didn't wake up.

"Probably too tired anyway," he murmured, and wrapping his arm around her, told his body to calm down. "Sometimes, celebrating homecoming just has to wait."

Kissing the top of her head gently, but very glad to be where he belonged, he fell asleep.


	33. Topsyturvy

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Topsy-turvy**

InuYasha's head lay on the bolster, his hair cascading over it and around the top of the futon like a silver fan. Light from the lamp played over him, breaking through the shadows of the darkened room, touching his face and hair with warm highlights.

Kagome leaned forward, her mouth tracing the contours of his collarbone, tasting the salt of his skin.

"Woman," he murmured, tilting his head back as she found the soft skin underneath his chin, dragging her tongue along it. He groaned.

Suddenly she lifted herself up, and he opened his eyes to watch her. With a wicked smile, she ground her center against him, teasing his hardness. His hands wrapped around her, sliding to her hips and holding her there for a moment, then sliding forward to cup each of her breasts.

She too closed her eyes and tilted her head back while leaning into his touch. He arched up, bringing his mouth to the hardened tip of her left breast, running his tongue across it, then moving to the other. Kagome gasped a little and he slid his arms back around her, pulling her flat against him.

One hand tangled into her ebony hair as he found her mouth, but her arms wrapped around his neck as she returned his kiss aggressively, hungry, pulling him even closer.

With a quick motion, he rolled them over. Now it was her hair cascading over the pillow, his hips snugly between hers.

He stayed that way for a moment, resting his weight on his lower arms, gazing down into her blue-gray eyes, heavy with want. His mouth found hers again, this time with a tender, gentle kiss, and then another.

She wrapped her legs around him, and gave him a smirky smile. "What do you like better, top or bottom?"

"Joined," he said, and proceeded to demonstrate just why


	34. Cold

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Cold**

Outside, it was snowing. Inside, a fire burned, glowing redly in the dark room, but barely taking the chill off the room. The occupants, though, weren't paying much attention to either.

InuYasha hovered over Kagome, holding himself up on his forearms. His fingers were threaded into the silk of her hair which was scattered over the pillow and the edge of the futon and onto the floor. His hair, also was pulled to one side, and piled up in a white waterfall. A quilt, blue and white, tented them against the winter chill.

Their lips met, tenderly, a kiss of lovers well content with their partners, languid lips and tongues dancing across and around each other's.

"Damn, woman," InuYasha said. "You taste so good."

His mouth found hers again, hungrier this time, drinking in her taste, sucking on her bottom lip She wrapped her arms under his arms, resting on the smooth skin of his shoulder blades, trying to pull him closer, which pushed the quilt down a few inches.

InuYasha, ears moving with Kagome's every reaction, trailed his mouth down her neck. She gasped as he planted kisses past her neck and slid further down, taking the quilt with him some more. As his mouth found her right nipple, she arched up, and he slid his left hand underneath her, finding that sensitive spot on her spine that made her moan. Brushing his claws against it gently, he was rewarded when she did just that.

Getting up on his knees he intensified his assault as his mouth moved down towards her navel, twirling his tongue around it, leaving her torso bare as he headed down towards her nest of curls. "So delicious," he murmured, his hands sliding under her bottom.

Suddenly he felt fingers on his ears, tugging. He looked up.

"So cold," she said. "Get back up here. I need my blanket."

He kissed her gently right above her curls, then smiled at her wickedly. "Am I your blanket?"

"You or the quilt," she said. "Take your pick."

"How about both?" he said, moving both himself and the cloth up to cover her.

She wrapped her legs around him, rubbing her core against his hardness.

"You must like it hot, woman," he said, grinding back.

"Umm," she said, maneuvering enough to catch him. "How hot do you like it?"

"Steaming," he replied, sliding home.

It didn't take long for them to kick the quilt off again. Somehow, this time, neither of them cared


	35. But

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**But **

It was late, and the house was very quiet. InuYasha, a smirk touching his lips, moved behind Kagome, tucking her between his legs. She turned and looked at him, smiling but was about to get up when he tugged the linen of her kosode off her shoulder. His hand ghosted across the white skin he found there. She shivered a little at the touch.

"InuYasha," she said, leaning back against him. "You know..."

"Shhh. Don't want to wake the kids." He pulled her long black hair to one side, and his mouth found the back of her neck and planted a line of kisses there and across her shoulder. "You know you don't want to do that."

One hand worked its way around her, slipping under the bit of her kosode still hanging on to the other shoulder, and cupped the warm weight of her breast. His thumb brushed across her nipple, and he playfully gave it a little tug.

"But I -" Kagome protested, even as she arched into his touch.

He deftly unfastened her obi. "But you want me," he said, sliding one hand delicately down her side, letting the tips of his claws tease her every so softly, sending goosebumps across her skin. "I can smell it." His tongue traced the shell-like shape of her right ear. "And I like what I smell."

Her hands grabbed both his thighs, giving them a gentle squeeze before she pushed off. "At least let me lay out the futon. I want to get under the quilt. It's cold in here!"

The hanyou snorted as he watched his wife, clutching her clothes close, walked across the room. "Not for long," he said, then got up to help her


	36. A Matter of Perspective

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi**  
**_

**A Matter of Perspective**

"What's that smell?" InuYasha asked.

There was an odor rich with whiffs of ammonia and ferment coming from the shed behind the dyer's house. Even Kagome's human nose could make it out.

"That's the indigo," Kagome said. "Yurime's mother told me it takes nearly a year to make. They have to ferment it to get the dye out."

"Smells worse than that miso you make," InuYasha said. "Or Tameo's sake."

"It does, doesn't it?" Kagome replied.

As they walked up to the front door of the house, Eiko, dressed in dark indigo clothes, walked up from the side of the house, wiping her hands on a towel.

"Ah, Kagome-sama! InuYasha-sama! You're here! My aunt will be glad to see you. She's around the back, dyeing. Please come!"

They followed the girl to an area close, but not quite next to the building the indigo was fermenting in. Rods stretched across the area, suspended on poles. Three lidded jars were buried, only their necks protruding above the ground. Lengths of yarn in various shades of blue hung from the rods. Anzu, her graying hair covered with a blue and white scarf, knelt in front of a tub full of water and hanks of white hemp yarn. As they watched, she uncovered one of the jars. Blue bubbles danced across the surface of the liquid there.

"I'll be right with you," the older woman said, then grabbing one of the wet hanks of yarn she squeezed all of the liquid out of it she could, and all of the air she could manage, and dunked it into the smelly vat. After she had deemed it long enough, she lifted it out. Eiko covered the vat back up as her aunt moved to hang the hank up. It barely looked colored when she lifted it up, but by the time she hung it up on it's place on the rod, it had begun to grow bluer. Soon it was a nice light blue.

"Isn't that funny?" Anzu said, wiping her hands clean. "The more it's exposed to air, the bluer it becomes, even though it looks almost white to start with."

"Is it magic?" InuYasha asked. He couldn't feel anything unusual happening, no youki or reiki at work.

"No, it's indigo," the older woman said, wiping her hands clean.

"I have the medicine you wanted, Anzu-sama," Kagome said, handing the older woman a jar. "Kaede said it's the best stuff you can use for your arthritis."

Anzu took the jar with one gnarled hand, opened it, took a whiff. "Thank Kaede-sama for me," she said. "This stuff works, but it surely stinks."

"Not as bad as the indigo," InuYasha muttered.

Kagome poked him with her elbow, but Anzu just laughed.


	37. Blurred Vision

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Blurred Vision**

He opened his eyes to realize it was daytime, and he was in the shade under some sort of tree. He could also see a blurry face looking down on him, and the smell of blood, his blood, was in the air. Even though his head was pounding, he knew he was supposed to be doing something. He blinked, trying to get everything in focus, then started to push himself up, but it was too much.

"Just lay there, InuYasha. You're not in any shape to get up yet." The blurry woman next to him was Kagome, and he relaxed just a little. She put a cool, wet cloth over the side of his head where the pain was the worst.

"What hit me?" he asked. His voice sounded strange to his ears, far away. "Everything is kind of fuzzy."

"Actually, you did," Kagome said, smoothing his bangs away from the cloth. "Or rather, you hit the ground when the yama uba threw you over the edge of that rock you were on. You must have caught the edge of a rock or something, because when I found you, you were out cold and had a nasty cut bleeding all over everything."

"The youkai," he said. "What?"

"I shot her. She's purified youkai dust now," Kagome said, brushing her fingers across his cheek. She slipped hand under his shoulders so he could sit up and drink some medicine. "This will take the edge off your headache."

He gave her the slightest of nods. "Don't think that village will pay us for youkai dust." Slowly Kagome's face grew into focus, but it was still a strain to watch her and he closed his eyes.

"They wouldn't have paid me for a dead husband, either," Kagome said, changing the compress on his head for another one. "I think I got the better deal."

"Me, too." InuYasha. Finding her hand, he gave it a squeeze, and let the medicine and the knowledge that he was safe lull him into a healing sleep


	38. The Hero Thing

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**The Hero Thing**

"You were gone so long," Kagome said, barely a whisper as her throat tightened. "I was so worried."

InuYasha cupped her cheek and rested his head on her forehead. "I'm sorry. I hate to scare you like that. His arm pulled her tight against him.

"We could see the smoke from here," she said. She rested her cheek on his shoulder.

"Keh," he said. "Stupid soldiers set the fields on fire, right as the wheat harvest was ready, too." His lips brushed her cheek, kissing away a single tear tracking downward. "It burned fast, but the wind shifted right, though. Fire started back toward the battle and Miroku and I were able to get by with no trouble. We're safe. The village is safe. They aren't coming this way."

"But what about the farmers there? What will they do?" she said. "I hate all this. And it'll be years before it stops."

"Some of'em got away. They know their mountain better than the soldiers. Miroku and I, we got a group of'em through the pass before the smoke cleared." He tilted her head up to look at him. "I suspect Sango and the other villagers are cooking soup for them right now. We did what we could. The Takada, you know what they do, round the women and children up and send them back to be sold to the highest bidders. I couldn't stop a whole army. But they didn't get them all."

She reached up and kissed him, gently at first, and then more desperately. "Do you always have to be the hero?" she asked.

"If it means keeping you safe, damn right." He returned her kiss, not as desperate, but with as much passion, then he pulled away, brushed her bangs out of her face. "The bath water hot? I'd sure like to get the smell of that fire out of my hair."

Kagome slapped her hands against his chest, not hard, and fought off a sobby laugh. "Scare me to death and then want to know if the bath is hot?"

He pulled her close again, trying to soothe her, brushing his hand through her hair. "Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, no." She looked up at him, seeing the tired, confused man he was, his right ear twitching as he searched her face. "I suspect you'll want some dinner, too."

"I'm sorry this happened," he said. "But we're safe now."

"I know." She reached up and kissed his chin. "Waiting and not being able to do anything was just really hard. Yes, the bath water is hot, and I have dinner waiting for you."

"You know, you're the reason why it's worth me doing the hero thing, you and our kids," he said. "Sometimes, I'd rather go the other way."

Kagome nodded. Taking his hand, they walked back to the house, where their son and daughter ran out to greet them.

"But it's worth every bit of it," he said, and picking up Yukika, and ruffing Atae's hair first, InuYasha and his family all went inside, together.


	39. A Change of Subject

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**A Change of Subject**

Inside, the two women talked and sipped tea.

"And then Erime told her mother about finding Yuki in the woods alone with Shigeru," Kagome said to Sango.

"No! She didn't!" Sango said, looking up from her sewing. "And after she promised not to."

"I really don't think it was her fault," Kagome said, pouring tea for her friend. "Her mother thought something was up, Yuki's been sad and staying to herself ever since Shigeru went down to Edo to work for that fish merchant."

"I noticed I hadn't been seeing her much around the village." Sango put the fabric she was working on in her lap, and picked up the cup of tea. "What happened next?"

"I hear that Toshiro went and had a long talk with Shigeru's father. Maybe the two of them will get lucky and there'll be a wedding."

Outside the house, InuYasha sat under the window, and his ear flicked at what he was hearing. He looked at Miroku. "Do they do this every time Kagome comes over here?"

"Most days, yes," the monk replied. "That is why I find it a good thing to come out here and meditate."

"More likely so you can eavesdrop," InuYasha said. "I know how you are."

There was a pause in the conversation. A door slid open and Sango walked out, followed by Kagome. "And that's when we start talking about you."

She handed the monk her son. "I hear you had a long meeting with Chiya-sama today. Want to tell us about it?"

Miroku looked at InuYasha, who was stifling a laugh. "The temple roof, dear Sango. She's going to donate to put a new roof on the temple."

"That better be all the help she's giving," Sango said, giving him a meaningful look, and together, the two women went back inside to finish their tea.


	40. Melting

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Melting**

Kagome's skin was hot beneath him, burning hotter than the summer night with her own personal fire. InuYasha ghosted his lips across hers and down her throat. She arched up, eyes closed, making a small gasp as his lips and tongue ran a line down to her collarbone.

"Melt for me, woman," he murmured, grinding himself against her as he continued his assault on her soft, salty-sweet skin, along the side of her neck. "I want to see just how liquid I can make you."

Her hands, wrapped around his neck and under the silver of his hair parted and gave way as he slid down her body, his hands running feather touches down her side, across her thighs, then returning to cup her breasts. His mouth continued to taste, to plant small kisses and licks. He mouthed one of her nipples, his hand cupping the other breast, and nibbled lightly, then tugged as he suckled. Looking up, he watched as she arched up, her hands threading in his hair, teasing his ears. His left ear flicked against her hand as he lifted his head far enough to blow air softly against the damp skin, pulling a moan from her and she arched again into the sensation.

"You're so beautiful like this," he whispered, and then, briefly cupping both soft mounds, switched his mouth to the other.

One hand slid between her thighs, gently touching the velvety skin there, pulling a soft needy sound from her, then slid up, one knuckle gently parting her folds. Her hips bucked, wanting more, and she cried out.

Her legs encircled him, trying to pull him closer, and he slid back up until his mouth tasted hers again. "Tell me what you want," he said between kisses, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"I want," she breathed, sliding her arms under his to wrap around his back.

"Me too," he said. "So much."

He slid into her, or maybe was engulfed by her. It didn't really matter. And for a moment, as he found the rhythm that pleased them both, touching her in ways that made sure her pleasure was as great as possible, he clung to the need to keep her there, crescendoing against him. Watching her, her bangs plastered against her forehead, her beauty and her wanting pushed in into a place only she could bring him, until he crashed into and through that wall that let him control the moment, and with a cry rode out the moment where there was no her, no him, only them.


	41. One Perfect Day

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**One Perfect Day**

InuYasha was still filled with the battle excitement as he put away his sword. "Stupid oni."

Kagome walked up to him, rested a hand lightly on his arm. "You're all right?" she asked, giving him a soft smile.

His nostrils flared a little, taking in her scent tinged with excitement, a touch of fear. It was a rich perfume to him, more real somehow after a battle than at other times. He knew from experience how she reacted after a battle - first, honest concern, and the drive to take care of whatever needed to be, and then, after the excitement wore off, she would want to rest, an idea that didn't sound half bad to him at the moment. He put his hand over the aching place on his arm. It came away sticky and red, the result of a lucky blow when the oni had ambushed them.

"Keh," he said. His ear flicked at the sound of a bird landing nearby, but focused more on the woman in front of him who, although she had a smudge of brown on her cheek, and dirty knees on her hakama, was unhurt. "Yeah. Just the cut on my arm. It'll heal."

She looked up at him, studying his face, as if that would tell her something. "I need to look at that."

"Feh, woman, after all this time you should know I don't need you to do that." He watched her as she turned around to pick up her quiver and the arrows she had spilled when the oni struck.

"Doesn't mean I don't need to," she replied

He nodded, then bent down to help her put the contents of her travel bag back together, winching once as he reached out with his wounded arm. Her hand covered his then. "I saw a stream not far from here. Be a good place to stop. I think I might want to rest for a bit." Her scent was changing a bit as she thought about it, a bit more spicy.

InuYasha nodded. The pack filled, Kagome stood up, and he followed. Some things would never change. Oni would remain stupid. Fights were there to make him feel more alive. Kagome would always want to take care of him, and then want to rest. And as they rested, one thing usually led to another. He smiled as they walked, anticipating.

"Never change, world," he muttered. "What a perfect day."


	42. Fatigue

I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

Fatigue

The fire was banked, the water bucket filled, the tub empted. Only the faintest smells from dinner lingered in the air. Kagome, wearing a vixen's smile and nothing more, lay down on the futon, waiting.

InuYasha draped his white kosode on top of his neatly folded fire rat garments as he prepared to go to bed. There was nothing stopping him. Even his sword lay close at hand. Instead, he sat down.

He shook his head and rolled his shoulders. "Damn. Glad this day's over."

Kagome nodded, and ran a finger along his thigh, across the fine white hairs, almost too faint to see there. "Me too. I hope tomorrow is less crazy."

"Yeah." He looked at her, and gave her a strange little smile as he rested his hand on top of hers, stilling the movement.

She tilted her head to one side, unsure, and sat up a little. The cover fell back, revealing the fullness of her breasts. He glanced at them, then took a deep breath.

"What?" she asked.

"I think I'm tired." His right ear flicked. "The walk, the youkai, the villagers..."

She got up on her knees, letting the blanket crumple to the ground. The lamplight wrapped her curves in interesting shadows, but it was still not enough to pull him out of his malaise. Pressing a hand to his forehead Kagome checked his temperature.

"You're not getting sick, are you?" she asked. "There's that fever going through the village. Akina's had it, and some of the children. Yurime's down with it now. And you just saw her a few days ago."

"Maybe you should worry," he said, shaking his head. "I don't get sick, woman. You know that."

Kagome sighed, then took his hand. "If you're tired, come to bed. We can just go to sleep, you know."

He nodded and let himself be talked into laying down. Soon they were under the covers, and he was spooning Kagome close to him, his nose pressed up against her hair. He shifted, and his mouth found the warm skin of her neck, and he gave her a little kiss, tasting the salt of her skin. Something in him, some tension let go at that moment, and all the aggravations of the day let go. He was home, she was here, and all was right with his world.

But he was still too tired to do anything about it, Yawning once, he quickly fell asleep.


	43. In a Hurry

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**In a Hurry**

"Kaze no Kizu!"

InuYasha's voice was harsh, almost a scream as he slammed the huge sword to the ground and five fingers of light raced towards the monster moving towards him. The oni, red and horned, but not too bright, blinked, not sure what to do. Suddenly, he was engulfed, and with a dreadful moan, burst into fragments.

"Stupid oni," he said, and dashed back through the woods. "I've got better things to do."

Kagome, checking the rabbit roasting over the fire at their campsite looked up as he walked into camp. His youki was flaring, and she had heard the roar of his sword attack in the distance. "Trouble?"

"A little," he said. He pulled her close, and gave her a hard, insistent kiss. "Barely slowed me down." He gave her a rather wicked smile. "Not nearly as much trouble as you're in for," he said, pulling back before giving her a much gentler, second kiss. "Full moon tonight."

"Dinner's almost ready," she said, laughing at him as she turned back to the fire.

"Good," he replied. "Let's eat quick. I'm in a hurry for dessert." And then grabbing her one more time, he kissed her again.


	44. Sneak Attack

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Sneak Attack**

InuYasha struck the ground with his sword, watching as the five fingers of light run from where it hit the ground to the monster rushing towards him.

"Die, bastard," the hanyou yelled.

The the oni roared in defiance as the kaze no kizu swallowed the monster up in an even louder explosion of light and blood as the monster was blown to bits.

"InuYasha!" Kagome yelled as something landed on his back, dropping down from the tree overhead.

"What the hell," he said, trying to shake it loose, spinning and reaching up. He felt a quick pull at his neckline, heard a snick, and then finally shook the youkai loose.

InuYasha swerved, and barely got a glimpse of a big claw before Kagome's arrow let loose. The creature he had missed while fighting the oni screamed as it blew up in pink miko light, scattering dust over a tangle of something silver white.

InuYasha lifted a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed. Wind touched skin that had almost never felt it. His head felt weird, like it was pulling against something that wasn't there. He touched the mass with his toe as his sword shifted back to it's non-transformed size.

"Are you ok?" Kagome asked, running up to her husband. "I don't know where that creature came from." She rested a hand on her husband's arm. "I've never seen such a big claw on something that small. It must have been hiding in the tree. I thought it was going to take your head off."

"Is that...that...that's my hair?" InuYasha said, his voice somewhere between unbelief and horror.

Kagome looked up at him. The youkai who had attacked him hadn't been able to punch through his fire rat, but had cut most of his hair just above his collar. It was a ragged job, uneven, leaving wisps hanging down over his shoulders, but his forelocks intact. She had always wondered what he'd look like with short hair. She wasn't sure if she liked the effect.

He flicked an ear as he stared in shock at the tangled mess, then looked up at Kagome. "Can...can we stay out in woods for a week? Maybe two?" InuYasha's eyes searched her face, looking almost panicked.

"Why?" she asked, cupping his face.

"It'll take at least that long to grow back," he said.

"So?" She reached up and pulled a stray strand of hair off his shoulder.

"If Miroku and Sesshoumaru see me," he said, "they'll never let me live it down."

"They'd have been more unhappy if you'd lost your head," Kagome said.

He sighed, bent down and picked up a handful of the silver threads."Yeah, but they wouldn't have teased me for it."

"But I would have been rather unhappy," she said kissing him lightly. "Let's go home." She turned to go.

With one last sigh, he straightened his shoulders and followed her. For a moment, he idly considered running the other way, but watching her walk, he had to admit there were some things in life that would make the embarrassment worthwhile.

Later, after facing the monk, he wondered if he had made the right choice.


	45. The Effect of Absence

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**The Effects of Absence**

InuYasha watched Kagome put their son to bed, laying him gently into the wicker basket that was his cradle. The light from the lamp and the fireplace cast warm highlights on her hair and her skin as she gently tucked the silver-haired child in, ran a gentle finger over one of the boy's puppy ears. She was the very picture of a loving mother.

She looked at InuYasha, gave him a little smile as she stood up. For a moment, neither of the said anything, but in that moment, something changed, and the air grew electric.

He tossed a log onto the fire, and stood up. Suddenly she was wrapping herself around him. "You were gone too long!"

His arms wrapped around her, automatically, "You..."

She cut him short as she pressed her mouth to his, a hot and hungry kiss. Even as he let himself be swept up in it, he could feel her hands fumbling for the ties to his jacket. The intensity of her attack lit his own fire and they quickly found themselves sinking to the floor.

When she finally let him come up for air, he was laying there half dressed and her robes were open. He gave her a little smirk. "So you really did miss me, eh?"

Her eyes flashed with an intensity that was almost scary. "Strip," she said. "I'll go get the futon."

As he slid the fabric of his shirt and jacket off, he grinned. "Homecomings. Got to love'em," he whispered. "Maybe I need to be gone for two weeks at a time more often."

By the time she was done with him, he wondered if he'd need two weeks to recover.


	46. Winter Moonlight

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Winter Moonlight**

The moonlight was bright, bright, against the snow. It looked untouched where the pale light brushed against it in between the shadows of the pines, they too bearing their load of white frosting. The wind was almost still, just a small tickle against his skin, an icy breath, and the air was growing colder by the hour.

InuYasha stood in the front of the small hut. There was a thick layer on snow on the roof, proof of how little the hunter's shack had been used lately. He had wondered if the game had all been hunted out in the area when they had arrived here, but he had no trouble hunting up their dinner. The smell of it roasting tickled his nose as the smoke from their fire drifted out of the hut to disappear into the midnight sky.

There was more to the night scents than the smell of cooking; somewhere nearby, an owl traveled through the night, silently gliding, no doubt looking for his own dinner, and there were fresh scents of fox, too.

His ear flicked at a noise behind him - the soft sound of a doormat being lifted, the rustle of a straw cape, quickly followed by the soft step of two small feet on the bare earth of the path he had cleared from the front of the hut earlier in the day.

"It's getting too cold for you to be out tonight," he said, without turning around.

"I was wondering what took you so long," Kagome said, resting a hand lightly upon his arm.

"It's just..." he started, but he really didn't know how to say what he thought.

"The moon's almost full," she said. There was a note, almost sultry in her voice. It made him take a deep breath. "Maybe that's it."

"Maybe." He turned to her. There was a sparkle in her eyes where moonlight touched them, and a look of secret, amusing knowledge dancing on her lips.

"And here we are, all alone, with Atae safely at Miroku's." She reached up, brushed a finger across his lips. "The moonlight giving you any ideas about what to do about that?"

Suddenly, the magic of pale light and shadow disappeared, to be fully replaced by the magic of the woman in front of him. He grabbed her hand, kissed her fingertip, and smirked.

"I'm sure I can think of something," he said, with a rather predatory tone. Before she could react, he had picked her up, and headed into the hut.

"Don't you want dinner first?" Kagome asked as he carried her inside.

"That's not what I'm hungry for, woman," he said.

Later on, as he ate his scorched stew, he thought that maybe he could have at least moved the stewpot off of the fire.

"But it was worth it," he said, and giving his rather rumpled but satisfied wife a fond look, ate another bite.


	47. An Interlude One Summer Night

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**An Interlude One Summer Night**

Kagome's skin was white hot underneath his hand, soft and yielding, glistening in the faint lamplight this summer's evening. Half-covering her with his body, InuYasha cupped her breast, enjoying the softness while he let his thumb brush against the firm pebble of her nipple. She pressed up into his touch, arching, while letting her head tip back, eyes closed at the sensation.

Her black hair cascaded off the edge of the futon like a black waterfall, her face contorted with the building sensation he was bringing her. His own amber eyes, heavy lidded with his own want watched every move that told him of her enjoyment. He loved watching her like this, seeing her pleasure and her passion build. It was worth putting off his own moment of pleasure for a time to heighten her own want and desire.

Her hands reached out, trying to pull him closer, slipping along the length of his back, around the curve of his butt. In return, he let his mouth find the sweetness of her throat, pulling a moan past her lips.

He sought out all those places, those touches which made her cry out until she pulled him tight against her. As he rested himself between her thighs and found her arms and legs wrapping around him, and her warm core drawing him in, he remembered vaguely what it was to be unwanted, unloved, but that man seemed like a stranger now. He knew he had been remade by some miracle not of his own making. Bringing her as much pleasure as he could was his way of saying he would never take that miracle for granted.


	48. Midnight at the Hot Spring

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Midnight at the Hot Spring**

The water dripped,  
moonlit pearls,  
down her dark hair  
onto the soft swell  
and pale skin  
of her bosom,  
rising and falling  
with each of her breaths  
as it danced  
ever downward  
heading for the shadowed  
water.

She moved a hand  
through  
dark water,  
causing the moonlight  
to ripple,  
breaking his trance.

Suddenly,  
he surrounded her,  
catching that one  
pearly drop  
with a single  
claw-tipped finger,  
his other hand  
pulling her close  
to the hardness of his chest.

In the moon-kissed  
waters,  
their hair,  
ebony and silver  
intertwined  
in floating ringlets.

Brushing her hair  
to one side,  
he let warm lips  
dance across  
the soft skin of her neck,  
half hidden  
in shadow,  
and as she shivered  
at his touch,  
he licked off one  
last drop.

"Enough bath,"  
he whispered.  
"Let's go get dirty."


	49. Sometimes

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Sometimes**

Hiding behind silver hair

and a tough guy smirk

and a big sword

is the small child

weeping at his mother's grave.

Sometimes, she watches him

when he thinks no one is looking,

and sees the child within

struggling with his shadows.

Yes, he knows fully well the need to strike first,

because the cost of life requires it,

this hard carving out of a place of his own

between two worlds,

and yet, in quiet moments,

he stares out into the distance

and remembers the feel of a time

where there was love and acceptance,

unscarred by the days between

then and now

and how it was shattered.

Sometimes,

when the darkness tries to swallow him,

she takes his hand -

and somehow,

through some magic all of her own

she makes a bridge over those years in between,

and the child within,

and the man he is now

finds comfort

in her smile and her touch

and her yielding body,

and all becomes right in his world once again.


	50. Homecoming

_I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**Homecoming**

"I..." InuYasha said, looking deeply into Kagome's eyes. The look he found there did not make him happy. "You..."

Kagome's eyes glistened in the evening light, reflecting the lamp. "I thought I was ready for this. I really did."

He nodded, and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "If I had known..."

"You would have still needed to go," she said. Her hand reached up and brushed his cheek, sliding into his hair. "That youkai..."

"I didn't know it was going to take so long," he said, wrapping his arms under her shoulders.

"I know," she replied. She gave him a smile, that although bright, didn't quite meet her eyes, and the anxiety and longing in her scent was driving him crazy. Her lips, though, brushed up against his, soft and beckoning.

His arms tightened around her, and hers clung to him like he was her life raft, afraid to let go. Sensing her need, he kissed her fiercely, letting his weight rest across her torso, his legs settle between hers. They broke for air, and he could see the first thaw in her eyes.

"I didn't think," he said. "I thought I'd be the one with nightmares."

"Waiting and not knowing..." she kissed him on the chin. "Sometimes it's the hardest."

"I..." he said again, looking down at her with all the love he could put in his eyes, his face, not nearly as much as he felt."

"Don't talk. Just show me you're here." she said.

"I'm here. We're both home," he said, giving her a little smile, almost, but not quite his usual cocky smirk.

Kissing her deeply once again, he took his time proving just how there he really was.

_A/N This takes place a few weeks after "Finding Home"_


End file.
